Helen pledged her support to raise money after her husband Dave sadly passed away last October.
He was cared for in the Victoria Hospice and Helen donated the collection from his funeral. She would like the money to be put towards funding a SNOW bed.
These beds – affectionately known as cuddle beds – are bigger beds which allow loved ones to be close to one another, without interfering with any medical equipment, but are not standard NHS equipment and the funding comes from Fife Health Charity.
Teresa Robertson, Senior Charge Nurse at the hospice, explained: “When Helen heard about the beds she agreed they would be excellent for our patients and embarked on a mission to raise money.
“Helen and her friends have really gone above and beyond – as well as the events they’ve organised, Helen even sold her car to donate the money from the sale and one of her friends worked an extra shift and his employer doubled his pay to donate to the cause. To raise that amount of money is staggering and testament to all of their hard work.”
“As Helen said to me, everyone in Fife has a loved one or knows of someone who has been in the hospice.
“We are so grateful to her and all of her friends for raising this tremendous amount. We really can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done and they’ve pledged to keep going to raise even more which is just fantastic.”
Mark McGeachie from Fife Health Charity added: "This is an incredible fundraising effort from Helen and her friends, and we are very grateful to receive this wonderful donation to enhance the fantastic care and support for patients and families from the team at Victoria Hospice. It is only through the generous donations from people like Helen and so many others across Fife that our charity is able to enhance the care patients receive within the hospice. As well as cuddle beds, our funding enables patients to experience complementary therapies, access to a beautiful garden space as well as enabling the team to deliver bereavement support for young people and their families and much more.”
Helen attended the hospice with her friends Teresa Low, Sheila Galloway, Marjory Blaikly, Louise Fraser, Nicky Laurie and Julie Inches to meet with Colin Grieve, Fife Health Charity Trustee, Mary Kinninmonth, Lead Nurse for the hospice and Teresa Robertson, Senior Charge Nurse this week to hand over a cheque for £18,000.
To find out more about Fife Health Charity, please visit www.nhsfife.org/fife-health-charity
